


Fractured Memories

by AerisLei



Series: [Not] Your Sacrifice [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: & is platonic right?, Alcoholism, Depression, F/M, Flown North, Gen, Interconnected Snapshots, Multi, Sort of a prequal?, drabbles?, ficlets?, headcanon filled, heavy stuff, qrow's point of view mostly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2018-12-29 18:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12091230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AerisLei/pseuds/AerisLei
Summary: “We are the sum total of our experiences. Those experiences – be they positive or negative – make us the person we are, at any given point in our lives. And, like a flowing river, those same experiences, and those yet to come, continue to influence and reshape the person we are, and the person we become. None of us are the same as we were yesterday, nor will be tomorrow.” -- B.J. NeblettA collection of various memories and scenes from Qrow's point of view, watching the girls grow up (among other things). It is through the fractured lens of memory that one begins to truly understand what it costs to be a huntsmen. It is through that same lens that one may begin to understand the complex man known as Qrow Branwen - he who measures his own worth in not his own successes, but in the smiles and joys of two girls that mean more to him than life itself.[Same world as Revealed by Mirrored Eyes, but they aren't reliant on each other. This can be read standalone and is also not required to understand RbME, though it may offer some insight to various things.]





	1. Just for Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to tell you now these drabbles are not in timeline order. The snapshots will come as I have inspiration for them. This can be seen as sort of a running Prequel for Revealed by Mirrored Eyes, though it is written to stand mostly by itself. I'll try to offer a timeline in context - usually by referencing the age of Ruby and/or Yang. The drabbles will have continuity between them.

"I hate that Oz is sending us both out right now. Taiyang could use the extra hands with both girls." The words are a forced attempt to break the too tense silence as the airship takes off, and there's a lightness the black haired man obviously doesn't feel. Sure, the huntress was more than ready to get back out there, but Qrow wished he could have gone on the same mission, or that he'd been allowed to stay behind and help Taiyang.  
  
"I don't like it either. But we do what we have to do. We're huntsmen." Her voice was steady if a little sad. Long fingered hands brushed red tinted hair over her shoulder as she watched him with eyes that seemed to see too much. Her white cloak had been discarded somewhere with their weapons, just a few feet away. Given they were due to be on the airship until dawn it wouldn't matter much, they wouldn't need those things until they hit the ground the next morning.  
  
The clothing that the cloak usually covered was dark in color and fit her form well. A black corset with an ash gray rose embroidered on the back and lighter gray lace edging.  
  
"Just for tonight, can it be like old times?" Her silver eyes watched him with an intensity that Qrow wasn't sure he wanted to acknowledge but also knew he couldn't ignore. Not while sharing an airship with her. Not when either one of them may not come back from their respective missions.  
  
He sighed, and then gave a slight nod. "Just for tonight." In a warning tone. "The girls don't need this confusion in their lives."  
"It's not like Tai doesn't know."  
"The girls, Summer."  
"It wouldn't matter if you didn't insist on lying."  
  
He stared at her, crimson eyes meeting silver before flicking down her body, and then away, towards the wall. "Maybe this isn't a good idea." Firmly.  
"Don't push me away!"  
"Don't ask for what I can't give. You know why I have to lie. It was a decision we made together."  
"It was never my choice." Summer snapped. And then she continued, entreating, "But you love her."  
"I do. More than life itself, just like I love you Summer. But that doesn't change what I am."  
The woman scoffed. "What you are is a good person."  
"My semblance-"  
"Doesn't define you."  
  
He sighed, sounding somewhat defeated. "Look, you and I both know neither of us is going to budge on this. Can we not... not argue about it tonight?" It was his turn to sound entreating. "I hate to go off on a mission with a sour taste in my mouth. I don't want to spend the night fighting with you when neither of us know if we'll see each other - or the girls - again."  
  
"You're right." Summer said finally, shifting around until she was sitting just so her gaze met his again. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed."  
"It's fine." The words were automatic. It wasn't fine but it would have to be, because he really didn't want to fight with her. Not when there was so much that could go wrong for either of them.  
  
"I have a bad feeling about this." Qrow said finally. "The missions, I mean."  
"I would have preferred Oz let us stay together too, but it's hardly the first time." Summer shrugged.  
  
For the first time in a while, he missed Raven hanging around. Usually these terrible feelings in his stomach were hinted at - or explained - by a vision Raven had around the same time. But these days... these days he didn't see her often. "Yeah, you're right." He said, finally. Qrow didn't really want to darken the mood any more than it already was, so he let it drop there.  
  
He was probably worried about nothing anyway. They'd make it home. They always did, Qrow knew he had to believe that. He had to believe that they would make it home because if they didn't stay positive the Grimm would truly overwhelm them.  
  
But here in the dim light of the air ship's hold, with one of his best friends - the only woman he'd ever really loved - it was easier than usual to push away the darkness. Just like old times, that was what she'd asked of him. And Qrow thought she deserved that much, given how little she ever asked. He moved across the intervening space, settling down in the empty space behind her, closest to the wall. One arm gently draped across her smaller form in the darkness.  
  
Summer made a noise of surprise and slid back a bit, closing the thin space between them. "I wasn't sure you'd come." She admitted softly.  
"I'm not mad at you Summer."  
"No, you're mad at yourself. That's worse."  
Qrow snorted, but didn't say anything more at first.  
"Will you be gone in the morning?"  
"If by some miracle you aren't awake when this thing lands, no. I'll make sure I stay until you are ready to leave, too. We'll leave together."  
  
"Good." Summer always hated it when she woke up and he was already gone. It made it too easy to imagine that he'd never cared at all, that he only humored her because she asked. It was silly, Summer knew, but their lives had never been easy. "It's always easier to sleep with you or Tai nearby."  
  
"Of course." Qrow murmured. "It's your subconscious knowing that either one of us will protect you. Sometimes just knowing you aren't alone can keep the demons away."  
"Do I keep yours away, Qrow?"  
"You do." Qrow admitted quietly, in the darkness. "Until something happens." And then he remembered why it was a sin to keep her close to him. Remembered why he'd done everything he could to make her hate him, to chase her into Taiyang's arms instead. ... It hadn't worked.  
  
Summer was intensely stubborn and had seemed to sense that everything he was doing was deliberately to chase her away. ... In the end they had compromised.  
  
He heard her sigh, and wondered if Summer would say anything more. But it seemed she wasn't sure what to say that wouldn't start their previous argument over again. Sometimes it was easier not to try to put words to the complex lives they led. So for night the two of them would take comfort in that the other was there, and that would just have to be enough. But then, it always was.


	2. Of Scythes and Beowolves

Qrow's mood was still chaotic at best. He'd been gone for months, since two days after Summer's funeral. He'd been gone, gone hunting those who had taken such a precious woman from the world. Someone who was so loved and had loved so many. He didn't feel better - but he hadn't found his enemy, either. Ozpin had told him he was wasting his time. Oz was right, of course, but it didn't make Qrow feel better. It didn't end the tearing rage that burned through his soul and threatened to consume him.  
  
It didn't ease the grief that ate at his very soul either. Qrow wasn't sure anything ever would again. He wasn't ready to be back here on Patch. He wasn't ready to see the girls and yet something Ozpin had said worried him. On their last chat he'd briefly mentioned that someone had been filling in for Taiyang for the whole time since Summer's death. He hadn't gone back to Signal at all.  
  
It was probably nothing, logic told him that. Tai was probably spending time with the girls, helping them figure out how to wade through the sea of grief that had rocked both of their lives. But there was this nagging feeling of wrongness that made Qrow decide he was going to check on them, just for a few days.  
  
And then he'd go demand Ozpin give him a real mission, since his self-imposed mission to find Summer's murder had been fruitless thus far. At least if he went with something Ozpin wanted him to do he could keep busy and useful at the same time.  
  
If Qrow had been paying any less attention as he flew over Patch, he wouldn't have noticed. If he'd been any less high-strung from spending months in the wilderness by himself, he'd have never noticed the trio of Beowolves. If he hadn't noticed the wolves, his huntsmen instincts wouldn't have kicked in, telling him they had to go because they were too close to the house that stood alone - to Tai's home. To the girls.  
  
He'd landed and transformed by the time he heard it - a child's scream.  
  
Qrow didn't think. Didn't process. There wasn't time. There wasn't time to wonder why the girls were here and not at home. There wasn't time to do anything but act.  
  
And act he did. Qrow threw himself through the air at the trio of beasts even as his sword transformed into its full Scythe form. The beowolves were dead in the span of less than a minute. There hadn't been time to worry about shielding the girls from the somewhat gruesome sight. But, them seeing a little blood was better than the alternative. Which would have been one watching the other be ripped apart.  
  
"Uncle Qrow!" Yang had latched onto his leg, hugging him tightly the best she could from all the way down there.  
"Fancy meeting you here." Qrow managed to keep his tone under control as he put away the scythe and patted her hair. "What are you doing out here, firecracker?"  
"Looking for mom."  
  
It was blunt enough that it caught Qrow entirely off-guard, and he frowned. And then he saw the picture in her hands - Raven, not Summer - and his frown deepened. "I see."  
  
Now that they weren't in danger of dying immediately Qrow found himself angry in Taiyang's general direction. Why did Yang know about Raven? What had he told her, exactly? And how in the world had the girls gotten this far from home by themselves without him noticing when he hadn't even been going to work?  
  
"We should get you two home, it'll be dark soon."  
"But..."  
"No buts." Firmly, keeping a tight rein on his voice. Yelling at her would solve nothing. She was barely eight and probably had no real idea of how much danger she'd put herself in. "We'll talk about this later."  
  
A sniffle from the wagon drew Qrow's attention to the other girl - to Summer's daughter. Ruby, it seemed, had not slept through the exchange of blows. He extended one arm and wrapped it around Yang for a second in a loose hug and then he moved passed her to pick Ruby up and settle the almost-six-year-old against his hip just so his sword wouldn't smack into her.  
  
"Can you manage the wagon a bit longer for me, Yang?"  
The blonde nodded resolutely. "I can."  
"Good." 

* * *

  
It had taken an hour to get home. An hour. He'd tried Taiyang's scroll precisely three times and had gotten no answer. And the Huntsman was furious with his former teammate. How hard was it to pick up your scroll when your kids were missing. Tai had better hope that the reason he hadn't answered was that he'd been so focused on trying to find the girls that he hadn't gotten the messages.  
  
When Qrow pushed the door to the small home open he noticed it was almost completely silent inside, and dark as well. The second thing he noticed was the fact that it felt... wrong. Sure, no one kept all their chores completely handled all the time. But in all the time Taiyang had lived in this house it had never gotten quite this out of hand. Sure, they weren't living in squallor or anything - but there was most of a sink full of dishes and nothing on the stove despite the fact that it was nearly dinner time. Sure, Branwen could chalk that up to the girls missing but there was still something... wrong about all of it.  
  
Qrow set Ruby down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table. Taiyang hadn't emerged from anywhere in the house so Qrow assumed - for the moment - that they were alone.  
  
"Uncle Qrow?" Yang's voice jarred him from his thoughts.  
"Hm?"  
"I'm... hungry."  
"I bet you are. You had quite the adventure." There was a flicker of amusement that broke through the serenity before fading. "I'll see what I can do."  
  
Qrow wasn't a total disaster in the kitchen, at least. As it turned out though, there was shockingly little in the refridgerator or pantry to work with. Still he did manage to pull together something suitable for the girls and got them settled down to eat.  
  
"You're being awful quiet kiddo, are you okay?" Crimson eyes focused on Ruby who smiled at him slightly before dropping her gaze and continuing to eat.  
  
"She's been like that lately." Yang offered. "She's hardly said anything since..." The blonde trailed off for a moment. "Since you left last time." That, it seemed, was easier to say than the truth. "I told dad about it but he just sort of shrugged it off. So I guess we just wait it out."  
  
Qrow frowned - having a hard time imagining Taiyang doing something as careless as shrugging off a drastic change in Ruby's behavior. ... And why had Yang felt the need to directly tell Tai something like that? Certainly it would have been obvious to him.  
  
Qrow set to doing some of the dishes while he considered the what the puzzle pieces he'd been handed thus far added up to and waited for Taiyang to make an appearance. It seemed Qrow would be waiting a while though, since he finished the dishes and the elder Xiao Long still hadn't showed up.  
  
Eventually Qrow settled the girls down and read them a story like Yang asked before tucking them both in and leaving them to bed.  
  
There would be time in the morning to consider Ruby's unnatural silence. There would be time tomorrow to talk to Yang about not going on a wild goose chase when she was utterly unprepared for the results. "Where in the hell are you, Tai?" Half growled under his breath. Even if he were still looking for the girls by now he ought to have gotten long enough to look at his scroll and see the messages Qrow had left.  
  
Because of that, despite still being angry with his former teammate, Qrow was just slightly worried, too. It was nearly midnight when Qrow slipped down the hall, intending to give up and at least attempt to rest in the guest room. If he'd been any less on edge, Qrow probably wouldn't have noticed it. But the huntsmen felt sure he'd heard something in the room that he knew to be the master bedroom. Honestly Ruby had probably gone in there seeking her dad. If she had, he'd probably end up tucking her back in bed and laying with her a bit until she fell back asleep.  
  
Qrow opened the door into the master bedroom quietly and found that it wasn't Ruby at all. Instead Taiyang sat in bed. For a moment - just a moment - Qrow's rage surged through him. But whatever he was going to say died before it left his lips.  
  
"Tai?" Concern instead of rage bled into that tone. The blonde hadn't even looked at him when he entered. There was no point in yelling, it would just upset the girls. And it seemed the blond male would hardly hear him anyway.  
  
Qrow didn't know what he was going to do. He killed things, he didn't comfort. He couldn't heal. And thanks to his semblance he couldn't stay. And yet, he'd almost have to. If Taiyang was like this... the girls really could get themselves hurt. "Oh... Tai." He just sighed, shaking his head. "What a mess we've made."  
  
He didn't expect a response, and he didn't get one. But that was alright. They'd get through this. They had to.


	3. Tower Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter one. Sorry about that.
> 
> This is also the furthest forward on the timeline this particular set of snapshots should go unless something weird happens. I'm not 100% thrilled with it yet so it may actually get re-worked at some point, but for now... Have this.

"Glynda, we have to focus on the living right now. Not the dead."  
"He might not be dead, Qrow."  
"The tower has fallen." Qrow deadpanned. "For that to have happened, whoever did this had to go through him. He's gone. And he wouldn't want us wasting time trying to find him while there are kids still here." Even if the White Fang had withdrawn, even if the worst of the combat was over. There were still students in danger, still people who hadn't fully evacuated.  
"But the -"  
"Shhh." He hissed, sharply. "If it's been found, it's been found. If not the Grimm are going to make it incredibly difficult. We'll have time to sort it out later. Ozpin would want us to get all of the students out first. There are still a few here, and a few wounded who haven't been moved - why is that anyway?" Frowning as he noted a group of students standing off to one side despite having been told repeatedly to go down towards the airships.    
  
"For once, I have to agree with Branwen."  
"Thanks, Jimmy, it warms my heart."  
  
Qrow ignored Ironwood glaring at him as he moved towards the cluster of students, intending to see what the hold up was, exactly. It took only a very short time for Qrow to be close enough to recognize one of the figures on the ground as his niece, Yang. And some part of his stomach turned when he realized that the majority of one arm was missing from her form.  
  
Beside her was Blake, one of their teammates. He didn’t know the names of the other three - though he vaguely recalled seeing them with the red haired girl - Pyrrha. Ozpin’s choice to become the fall maiden.  
  
“Is there a particular reason none of you have moved towards the airships?” Mild, even as he signaled for someone to come and assist in moving Blake and Yang.  
  
“Well….” The redhead began, and then trailed off.  
“We were waiting for Ruby and Weiss to return.” The dark haired boy spoke up.   
“They went back into school grounds to try and find Pyrrha and Jaune. … Jaune made it back by himself but the others are still…” She glanced towards the ruins of Beacon academy.  
  
“I want the three of you to stay with Blake and Yang. That includes when they’re moved to the airships in just a minute.” Firmly.   
  
“You aren’t going into the ruins, are you?” Glynda frowned darkly.  
“Yeah, I am. My niece is in there somewhere and I’m not going to leave her behind.” Qrow snapped back.  
“You just said-”  
“This isn’t some hypothetically if the stars aligned just right she could be alive. There are three students still in those ruins somewhere. I’m going to find them.”  
  
Glynda had been about to say something else, but the sky chose that precise moment to explode into light. “What the-”  
“No.” Qrow hissed under his breath and bolted, ignoring them in his single minded rush to get into the ruins. As soon as he was out of sight he transformed into his bird form. Unknown to him at the time, Glynda was following him. It didn’t matter, of course, she’d seen him do it before.   
  
His focus was entirely locked on the tower, because that was where the light had initially started. A corner of his mind processed that there was a girl at the base of the tower -- white haired. Probably Winter’s sister then. Qrow didn’t stop or bother to try and land though, instead shooting up the side of the tower.   
  
The dragon was an unsettling sight up close. Qrow hadn’t ever seen a grimm that size before. Still, it didn’t move. And Qrow realized dimly that it had essentially been turned to stone. Well that wasn’t something he’d seen before.  
  
His form shifted human - and the first thing that caught his eye was a glint of gold near the center of what had once been Ozpin’s office. His heart sunk when he realized it was the circlet that Pyrrha had worn.  
  
That was… not a good sign. It took him a moment to find Ruby among the rubble. “I’ve got ya, Kiddo. I’ve got ya.” More to himself than anything, since it seemed Ruby was well and truly unconscious. But she was alive, he noted, taking heart in seeing her chest rise and fall slowly. She was breathing.  
  
Qrow decided not to dwell on what he would have done had she not been breathing. She was alive. She was going to be okay. He hadn't completely failed Ruby.   
  
The older huntsman lifted his niece from the ground carefully cradling her form.  
  
He hesitated a moment before taking the time to retrieve what was left of Miss Nikos’ weapon and her shield to go along with the circlet.   
  
For her team, for her family.   
  
It was just a shame so much had been lost today.


	4. Don't Lie to Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow and Ruby have a heart to heart.

“Do you have to go?” Ruby’s voice was low, but it carried to the man doing his packing well enough. The eleven year old girl stood in the doorway to the guest room that had become Qrow’s de facto room whenever he stayed with them. Silver eyes watched him with a razor sharp focus that someone who knew the girl less would not believe she was capable of.

To them she was too excitable, too naive - too foolish, or too childish. To them she didn’t pay enough attention to  _anything_  and they would never believe there was a way she’d stood there in that doorway and watched him with eyes that had clearly seen too much already. But Qrow… Qrow knew the girl better than almost anyone else. He knew what lay beneath the guise she offered to the world - because someone had to. Still, it was unnerving to have an eleven year old look at him quite like that because in that moment, it could have been Summer standing in the doorway instead of Ruby.

She was speaking again - had been for years now. But it seemed like a blessing every time she did. Qrow had been in and out a multitude of times since the fateful day he’d saved their lives - for the first few years, he’d stayed consistently. But Taiyang had gotten better, slowly, and Qrow had withdrawn. It was safer for the girls. It  _was_  safer for them - but Ruby was never quite willing to let him go. He put away the last of what he was packing and turned to face her properly.

Crimson eyes gave the girl a cursory glance - she was a tiny thing, and already in her pajamas. She’d clearly been getting ready for bed when she noticed him packing to leave first thing in the morning. “I do, Petal.” He admitted after a moment. “It won’t be long this time. I’ll be back before you know it, I promise.” His words, his tone - they were casual to the point of being dismissive.

He didn’t  _want_  the girls to worry. He wanted them to be used to him being gone more than he was here - it was safer for them both.

Qrow immediately knew what he had said was the wrong thing. Silver eyes darkened, and there was a shift in body language from relaxed to distressed. “Don’t lie to me.” Her voice was still low, but he could almost hear an undercurrent to it that sounded like the warning before a storm of emotions. Ruby was not prone to tantrums but sometimes… sometimes things were still  _too much_. Qrow knew that, but what he didn’t know was how something so casual had pushed her passed the edge that quickly.

Don’t lie to me… Qrow considered that for a moment as he sat down on the edge of his bed and patted a space beside him, inviting the girl to come and sit so they could talk about this - preferably before it festered and became resentment or something worse.

Ruby padded across the room and sat down in the indicated spot next to Qrow. “Alright Petal, clue me in here.” His tone was gentle but inquisitive.

“I don’t want you to lie to me.” Ruby repeated, silver eyes flashing slightly. “Don’t say things that you don’t mean. That you can’t know are true.”

Blink. Qrow studied the girl for several moments, considering what she’d said again, understanding beginning to dawn on him. She knew he couldn’t know he’d be back, because she knew he was going to go fight Grimm. And probably Summer had said something similar to the girl when she left, and of course, she had never come home. Qrow had to admit it had never occurred to him that Ruby would see it as lying.

He would have to be careful what he said, extremely careful, if he was to make this promise and yet… Qrow nodded slightly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t really mean to lie to you, I just thought it would make you feel better to know this was a short mission.” Was what he finally said. “But I can promise that I won’t lie to you Petal, not if I can help it. Can you make a promise to me in return?”

The girl seemed to consider what he said for a moment before nodding slightly, accepting his promise. “What do you want me to promise you?” She asked slowly, completely trusting Qrow, but curious.

“I want you to promise not to lie to me when you’re telling me how things are, how you are.”

Ruby’s expression turned contemplative, as she seemed to consider the implications of that promise in her own way. Finally she nodded again. “I promise I won’t lie to you when you ask how I am and how things have been going here at home.”

Qrow brushed the girl’s reddish black hair out of her face, and kissed her temple delicately. Ruby wrapped her arms around him for a moment, clinging to his form. Qrow made a soft noise that could be read as amused, and patted her back for a moment.

“You should get some sleep, Petal.”

“Okay. Goodnight Uncle Qrow.”


End file.
